Chapter 66 The Prime Minister is very depressed
The Prime Minister’s Residence in Lin’an City.
The envoy obtained a detailed report from Yu Hou Wu Kuang who had sneaked into Jiazhou: after the prefect of Jiazhou was replaced, the magistrate of Qianwei County directly sided with Zhao Yulin's Shenwei Army. The areas from Jiading to Yibin had been connected by the Shenwei Army and were completely controlled by the Shenwei Army.
He couldn't find any help and didn't have the chance to take action.
The envoy was very depressed. He could get whatever he wanted in Lin'an, so why couldn't he deal with a little abandoned child?
While the envoy was still pondering over a countermeasure, someone from the palace came to say that the emperor had a request for him. Shi Xiang changed his clothes and hurried to the palace.
Seeing the envoy coming, the emperor happily handed the crystal cup in his hand to him, saying that the palace spent 1,200 taels of silver to buy it, and he also held up the hand that showed it was bought by the emperor's favor.
Yibin has treasures.
The envoy said that since he liked it, he could just ask Xuzhou to pay tribute. Why go through so much trouble?
The emperor was in a good mood and said happily that he didn't know this. There were only fifty of these crystal cups in Yibin, and they were sold out in one day. Even if I, the emperor, wanted more, I wouldn't be able to get one.
The envoy told them to pay tribute within a time limit, how dare they deceive the emperor?
The emperor was very generous and said that if the deadline came and the work was still not done, would he really be beheaded? Was he forcing people to rebel?
If he kills someone, won’t there be no one to do the job for him?
Where can I find such a beautiful crystal glass?
Then, the emperor taught earnestly: When treating others, you should treat them with kindness , do you understand?
My Zhao family does not kill innocent people indiscriminately.
The emperor gave the teacher a lecture and asked him how to respond when there was an emergency at the border.
The envoy became much more honest. After recounting the results of the court discussion, he returned to the issue of insufficient soldier pay and shortage of military funds, saying that although the old slave had put in a lot of effort, there were still many shortcomings.
This time the emperor had another noble idea: he said that everyone should tighten their belts and chip in. The palace would give 50,000 taels of silver, the Grand Tutor would give 20,000, and all the officials of all ranks in Lin'an would donate some money to solve the coal crisis. How do you think?
The emperor was trying to get more money out of Shi Miyuan, asking him for donations one after another. He had a lot of money, so it didn't matter. The officials in the court who were not greedy or corrupt had already been under great pressure.
But the emperor refused to give in and insisted on letting Prime Minister Shi clean up the mess. The old man's health was getting worse and worse, and he walked back tremblingly.
Zhao Yulin had no idea about the palace fighting in Lin'an City, and was still studying Yibin Yanmian with his master. The master suggested adding some sesame spices to make it taste better.
He asked the masters to practice and it would depend on them next time.
Teacher Liu Yuru arrived, and Zhao Yulin called Xiaomin and Ma Ling to discuss the renovation of Jiuzhou Dam.
The master's idea is to restore the original appearance of the old street in Jiuzhouba, dredge the drainage system, introduce a new culvert pipe septic tank design from Jiangnan, and build a sewage system that separates rainwater and sewage.
Zhao Yulin thought it was okay and reminded them to make do with what they had and keep it beautiful and elegant.
Ma Ling'er suggested starting from Yibin Port and building roads to connect the newly opened glass shop, Jiuzhouba, Jiaohua Chicken and Liubei Pool so that people coming to Yibin can have food and fun, thus retaining the guests.
Xiaomin said that it would be okay if they only used roads for communication, but it would be difficult if there was a large investment.
Liu Yuru said that he would first arrange the renovation of the old state dam and roads, and would discuss the next step after this link was completed.
After setting the tone, they went their separate ways.
Zhao Yulin took Ma Ling and Chen Chen to find the porcelain workshop owner Ju, and asked him to invite the workshop owners in Cuiping Mountain to have tea together to discuss the renovation of Jiuzhouba and the introduction of merchants, and encourage everyone to invest.
He told Ma Ling that he should also advertise in the newspapers, and that anyone who had any new and exotic food or goods at home could open a shop in Jiuzhouba. After evaluation by the Shenwei Army, they would provide them with a shop space and reduce or waive rent to support their business.
Once the ideas were opened, everyone started to give ideas. Ma Ling'er said that they could hold a private cuisine competition in the city to elect merchants to move into Jiuzhouba. Chen Xiaomin said that they could also hold a small handicraft competition. Liu Yuru said that he would contact some elderly people to explore the time-honored merchants passed down in Jiuzhouba.
Seeing that he didn't need to worry about it anymore, Zhao Yulin bowed and said, "Please take care of it."
After coming out, he went to Cuiping Ghost Valley, where the valley owner Chen Xian was busy. He told him that two mines provided by Mr. Zhu had been made, and they went together to see the effect.
The group walked five miles deeper into the valley and saw Zhu Congwen waiting in front of them, burying mines and pulling fire to detonate them, just like in the anti-Japanese war films of later generations.
Chen Xian asked him in surprise how?
Looking at that expression, Zhao Yulin must have thought that it was a great and amazing invention.
He nodded at Zhu Congwen, and Old Zhu spoke. After proposing a series of improvements, Chen Xian's enthusiasm dropped a lot. Zhao Yulin still praised the masters.
It is indeed amazing that they were able to make landmines after eight hundred years. Even if it was just to blow up a small hole, it achieved long-distance control of the buried mines.
He told the masters that the Shenwei Army would have to deal with a large number of Mongolian mobile corps on horseback when they went north, and they would rely on mines to help block the roads and delay the enemy's advance.
A group of people came out of the valley and sat down in Chen Xian's study. Zhu Congwen told him that he had tried to make grenades, but the effect was similar to those made in the border areas, which was not ideal.
Zhao Yulin thought it was already very good, and thought it was not right to scare Master Chen with those high-tech things.
Zhu Congwen said that he didn't tell Lao Chen about the planes, cannons, submarines and so on.
Zhao Yulin saw that Chen Xian was petrified and stunned, so he waved his hand to tell him to stop. He continued to discuss the land mines. He said that they could work on the casting. Land mines are like sweet potatoes. They could carve to reduce the thickness of the shell. When the land mine explodes, it will naturally break into dozens or hundreds of pieces.
After this enlightenment, the master immediately understood and said that grenades can also be made in this way. Of course, Zhao Yulin encouraged them to experiment and told them to be careful.
After finishing his business, he personally pushed Zhu Congwen back. Old Zhu said that he was anxious because he saw that the team was going north and there was no suitable guy.
He said that no matter how urgent it is, we have to work hard on the tools. When the tools are advanced, we can make advanced weapons. When the tools are advanced, we can make more advanced tools. Then we will have what we need.
When Zhao Yulin returned home, Fan Zheng said that it seemed that there were guests. Zhao Yulin went to his mother's place and found that it was his mother's two brothers who came.
Zhao Yulin met his two uncles and asked Fan Zheng to invite the two young ladies back to meet him. He saw that his mother seemed to be hesitant to talk, and guessed that the two uncles had come here for something.
He calmly finished his tea and went out. When he saw Chen Xiaomin, he told her to pay attention and took his two wives to see his uncle. After the greetings, he went to his study room on the pretext of having something to do.
Later, Xiaomin came over. She found her mother-in-law's maid and learned that her two uncles wanted his mother to persuade him to invest in building a wharf in Jiang'anba and develop the economy like Yibin.
At night, he invited Liu Yuru to discuss the matter and expressed his idea of helping his mother fulfill her wish.
Zhao Yulin said that Jiang'an certainly couldn't compare to Yibin in terms of popularity and business opportunities. We could build a bigger wharf like the one in Feixichang and open a Beggar Chicken branch there.
Chen Xiaomin said that she might as well accompany her mother-in-law back home, wouldn't she know better what to do?
Liu Yuru also said that it would be a good opportunity to take the two masters with him to see what was going on.
At breakfast the next day, Zhao Yulin told his two uncles that the Shenwei Army was optimistic about Jiang'anba and planned to invest there to build a wharf and open a Beggar Chicken branch, so he asked his two uncles for help.
His mother widened her eyes in surprise. Zhao Yulin asked his mother with a smile, "Is it okay?"
My mother doesn't agree?
His mother quickly shook her head and said that Jiang An was thinking the same thing.
Zhao Yulin said he was busy and couldn't leave, so he asked Xiaomin to take the master over, and my mother should go back to take a look as well.
His mother was happy, and his two uncles were also extremely happy.
After dinner, we packed up and left.
After Xiaomin and the others got on the boat, Ma Ling'er said that they should go up to the city gate tower to see them off. Zhao Yulin said that once we got to the top of the city gate tower, we might not be able to see our mother's boat.
Zhao Yulin helped Ma Ling climb up. I said, "My mother-in-law won't allow me to climb any further if I continue."
It turns out that this is what she was thinking about.
Zhao Yulin helped her approach the battlements of the city wall and watched the ships coming and going on the river. Before they knew it, they had been in the Southern Song Dynasty for more than two years.
The girl leaned her head on his shoulder and asked what he was thinking about. He reached out and touched her belly and said he was thinking about his baby.
Ma Ling asked him whether he liked a son or a daughter?
He said that his sons and daughters like it equally and love it equally.
The little girl closed her eyes sweetly.
Zhao Yulin found that although Ma Ling'er, who was born in Huazi, seemed rough, she was also able to act cute and romantic. He kissed Ma Ling and asked, "Are you asleep?"
The little girl opened her eyes and said, "Can't I just enjoy it for a while?"
Of course, Zhao Yulin helped the woman down. Chen Chen ran out of the office and blocked their way, saying that he wanted to eat the burning noodles he made.
Ma Linger also said she was hungry, so she ate the yan mian he made. Zhao Yulin went home and became a chef. This time, with the improvements made by the chefs, the color, aroma and taste of the yan mian were even better. After eating, little Chen Chen patted his belly and said he was full.
Zhao Yulin looked at the innocent little girl and told her to exercise more when she got home, as pasta was not easy to digest.
The osmanthus flowers were in bloom, and Zhao Yulin accompanied Ma Ling to have tea under the osmanthus tree.
He said that Litchi Green was originally a good fruit wine, but unfortunately the Wang family did not follow the right path and the winery is gone. I wonder what happened to Wang Dehui?
And with two children.
Ma Ling'er said with a smile, "Brother feels sorry for Miss Wang Er, do you want to bring her home?"
Zhao Yulin threw a fried soybean at her and scolded her for what she said, saying that it must not be easy for a woman to raise two children.
Ma Linger told him that she heard that Wang Dehui's son had drowned, so she and her daughter were staying in a street house owned by her second uncle. Many men in the city came to her place to help and stay. Now she was rich and dressed very nicely because she was beautiful.
Damn, there is such a way to make money, Zhao Yulin was surprised.
It was the first time he heard that a one-room inn could outperform those inns simply because the owner was beautiful.
Zhao Yulin said with a smile that Miss Wang Er was capable and that he should visit her inn when he had time, which must be very unique.
